Who said that federal stimulus money was tax dollars thrown to the wind?  We learn that $49 million of taxpayer money has been procured by Detroit public schools for laptops for students and teachers.  The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.All the new technology is fine as it goes, but there's a hitch.  Detroit public school kids have trouble with the basics, like simple math, reading, and writing.  In fact, a little over a year ago, a whopping 69% of Detroit fourth-graders scored "below basic" on math testing.  The scores have dropped to an historic low.  Reading and science scores aren't impressive either. According to the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, only 31.9% of Detroit's public school students graduate in four years.  Greatschools.org gives Detroit public schools a mere three out of ten on its excellence scale.    So why $49 million for laptops when too many...(Read Full Post)